Clearing the air

Six months ago, the Tribune published Gateway to Gridlock, a Pulitzer Prize-winning series about the horrors of one storm-ravaged day at O'Hare, and the poor planning, airline greed and petty politics that created a national transportation crisis.

In many ways, nothing has changed. The regional system remains a mess. O'Hare is a national punch line. The proposed third airport at Peotone is more a battlefield than an airfield.

But there's good news for frustrated travelers: The answers are out there, and a solution is not an impossible dream.

The Tribune, drawing on its experience in documenting the earlier series and tapping into the best thinking available on the subject, has constructed a six-point blueprint for change.

The plan will take tremendous political will to accomplish. It requires all parties to act in the best interests of the region.

That means Mayor Richard Daley needs to end his covert battle against a new airport.

It means Gov. George Ryan must stop holding progress at O'Hare hostage in defense to his Republican constituency.

And it means those who live near O'Hare--and politicians who represent them--must work for compromise.

The airlines, too, must do more than complain about the gridlock and acknowledge their role in the problem. In effect, United Airlines and American Airlines have been handed a duopoly for O'Hare's domestic flights. The price of that lucrative business advantage should be forgoing some short-term profits for long-term solutions to the problem.

The solutions require common sense in what would be unprecedented doses for this Balkanized state.

But there really is no other option.

For years, no one gave an inch, even as delays became the rule rather than the exception and the quick fixes withered on the vine. But the following blueprint shows how, with forceful political and corporate leadership, the skies at O'Hare--and the rest of the nation--can be cleared.

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A TRIBUNE SPECIAL SECTION: SOLUTIONS TO GRIDLOCK

Clearing the air

A blueprint for solving the crisis in U.S. air travel

THE PROPOSALS

Add runways at O'Hare

Plan for 2, build at least 1. Perspective, Page 3

Create an air authority

1 team could marshal strengths of all region's airports. Perspective, Page 3